


Handle with Care

by TheShortestManOnEarth



Series: Glimadora Week 2.0 2020 [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora works for a delivery company, Delivery puns, F/F, Fluff, Glimadora Week 2, Glimadora Week 2020, Glimadora-freeform, Glimmer goes off on Hordak, Hordak is a terrible boss, Humor, Kinda drunk Adora, Mermista has no idea what's going on, Minor head injury mention, Modern AU, Oblivious Adora (She-Ra), Sorry about the puns, Swearing, they're terrible, this is nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShortestManOnEarth/pseuds/TheShortestManOnEarth
Summary: Glimadora Week 2.0 Day 3: Modern AU PromptAdora has spent the last seven years working for Horde Prime Delivery Company. One night she has to delivery a package that just doesn't quite work out the way she intended it to. But maybe it worked out the way she needed it to.
Relationships: Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Glimadora Week 2.0 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881961
Kudos: 15





	Handle with Care

**Author's Note:**

> Hi All,
> 
> Welcome to Day 3 of Glimadora Week 2.0! This is my submission for day 3. And writing this was a bit of a trip for me (in that some of this is cheesy nonsense and I'm not sure how I feel about that). *Shrugs*
> 
> I went more in the humor direction with this and I hope that comes off a little. Also, writing some of this was cathartic because I worked in customer service and had to answer calls about deliveries not making it to their destinations and it sucked. So I guess this was kinda nice to do in that sense. 
> 
> Minor CW: Head injury/concussion. Nothing graphic. 
> 
> Just to note: I do know that when someone has a head injury (or risk of neck injury) you're not supposed to move them. But for the sake of plot I had Glimmer ignore this. 
> 
> The "motorcycle" thing that I mention is loosely inspired by an actual fustercluck of a machine I wrote about in a college paper. It wasn't a motorcycle. But some inventors in the 1970's combined a plane's wings with a Ford car and it was freaking disaster. Anyways, if you're curious about it, here's the wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE_Mizar 
> 
> The next two prompts will also be lighter (or as fluffy as I can go-which is still kinda angsty, but I'll do my best) so I'll see you at the next prompt: Princess Prom/Wedding. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

There was no other way for Adora to put her emotions into words other than, “This is absolute rotten timing.” Adora sighed deeply as she plowed onwards. She didn’t know why she continually offered to do the last delivery shifts of the night. But she did. Every. Single. Time. Maybe it was a misplaced sense of duty. Somehow in the back of her mind she had decided that the only way that these packages would get to their destination on time was if she was booking it to any location at obscene hours of the day. 

Usually it gave her a sense of accomplishment, like she’d guarded something far more important than just a piece of mail. Though, she reasoned to herself, this package could be something crucial to someone. Not that anyone would tell Adora. Her boss, Hordak, was a cold corporate type and only cared that the job was done. He wanted to prove that his off-shoot branch of Horde Prime Delivery Service was the best to the owner of the franchise. However, given how many branches there were across Etheria, Adora seriously doubted it was even a blip on Hubert Prime’s radar. 

But logic never did appeal to Hordak or to his energetic co-manager, Entrapta. She was always coming up with new ways to deliver mail. Which was how Adora found herself on midnight shift, which wasn’t even an actual shift, the girl just had no ability to say no and before she knew it, she was the guinea pig for Entrapta’s latest delivery vehicle experiment. It was motorcycle hybrid combined with an older car… with wings. The whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen. One of the tests burst into flames, surprisingly without the help of the pyro obsessed assistant Sea Hawk’s help. So, the wings were abandoned, and the car/motorcycle was clanking and shaking its last legs on the journey to the package’s destination in the middle of the worst rainstorm in the history of the city of Bright Moon. 

Adora tugged the collar of her work jacket, which had the emblem of the shipping company, two separated wings, up to try to battle the cold seeping through to her skin. Everything about this night was turning out to be rotten, but she shifted the package, so it was stuffed under the protection of her jacket. The rain continued to stain the cardboard and with a sigh, she pulled over and took off her jacket to use it as a protective wrap for the package. Satisfied that it was secured to the back of her vehicle, the blonde continued to ride onwards. At this point she could only see so far ahead of her with the rain coming down and her bike didn’t have a lot in the way of headlights. She made a mental note to complain to Entrapta about that obvious oversight. 

The wheels whipped through a puddle, spraying Adora with dirty water. Her white shirt was beyond ruined by now. But she didn’t have many shirts outside of what she wore to work, so it didn’t bother her too much. Her daily routine consisted of getting up absurdly early to get in for the first delivery of the day and then not leave until the last package was delivered. The running joke that her best friend, Bow, had was that if she didn’t show up the business would stop running altogether. The girl genuinely didn’t know how to let it go. Every package was a mission. She didn’t know what her life was outside of it. Which, truthfully, would sound weird to anyone else. But to Adora, she only ever wanted to do a good job. 

Her eyes went to the GPS programmed into her watch, another tech gift from Entrapta. It beeped intermittently to let the girl know how close she was to her destination. At this point she was maybe a few miles out from the smaller cluster of mansion-like houses in the neighborhood where this package was supposedly meant to be delivered. Her breath misted in front of her and she clenched her jaw to keep from chattering. If she got sick, she would never hear the end of it from Hordak. But she usually did a good job of hiding the few times she had managed to catch something. It was rare so she counted herself lucky for having an iron clad immune system. 

The GPS beeped again, and the girl looked down, clicking it a few times to get the complete address to show so she could look for the house number. A loud blare of a truck horn told her she’d swerved into the wrong lane for a second and she swerved a second time, skidding through another giant puddle and finally stopping when her vehicle smashed into a collection of oversized metal trash bins set out on the curb of one of the houses. Adora flipped over the front of the bike as the momentum of the crash continued and she landed with her head thunking against the sidewalk. At least she’d worn a helmet. Though the impact of the blow made the world a little hard to focus on. 

Lights flickered on in the house right behind Adora and within minutes the front door opened to reveal a short woman with bright pinkish purple hair. She clicked on a flashlight and cast it around before the bright glow landed on Adora’s awkward position on the sidewalk. “What the… .” The woman ran over when she saw Adora’s bike and the girl’s state as she lay on the sidewalk. “Are you okay?” “Mmm fine. But there’s two of you.” Adora slurred. The woman frowned and quickly lifted the flashlight to look at the blonde’s eyes. They were certainly beautiful. A rich sky blue that the pink haired woman was sure she could fly through. She shook the thought from her mind. The eyes were nice, but they were dilated and the way this stranger on the sidewalk was swaying likely meant there was a concussion. 

“I think you may have a concussion. I’m going to help you inside.” Glimmer said, trying to keep her tone calm for the sake of the blonde. 

“No can do, Beautiful Sparkly Pink Lady,” Adora said with a shake of her head. “I haf a package to deliver.” The pink haired woman in question blinked in surprise. A package? That’s what this was all about? She looked around and spotted the package in question. It was wrapped in a red jacket and unlike the vehicle sprawled on the ground or its driver, the package was unharmed. The vehicle was dented, and the metal had been twisted from the impact. _Well, she certainly has a good grasp of priorities._

“Okay, um…I don’t know what your name is…” Glimmer said. 

“Adora.” The blonde said with a big grin. “We at Horde Prime Delivery expect full satisfashion. I need to deliver the package.” Once again, the pink haired woman had to ignore how weird Adora’s obsession with the job was given the circumstances. 

“Adora, I’m Glimmer. I’m going to help you inside. We’ll take the package too.” The blonde nodded fervently, practically hugging the package with all her might, which was a lot as Glimmer was noticing. Adora was wearing a white t-shirt and where the muscle was visible under the fabric the pink haired woman could see toning and as she lifted the blonde up, the sleeve moved to show a lot more definition. It took a lot for Glimmer to ignore the temptation to stare at this beautiful, yet incredibly concussed, woman who had crashed into the pink haired woman’s trash bins. There would be time to worry about that issue tomorrow. 

They entered the house and Glimmer escorted the blonde to the couch. Once she was certain the blonde wouldn’t be able to hurt herself by falling or moving around, Glimmer went in search of clean clothes and a First Aid kit. She went for the clothes first and grabbed a towel while she was in the linen closet. After collecting her supplies, she made her way back downstairs. Her heart thudded in her chest as she worried about the fact that a) she had a total stranger, an attractive woman at that, in her home and b) This woman was concussed beyond any comprehension. 

She entered the living room to find that Adora had picked up the package and was attempting to carry it to the door. Glimmer let out a panicked yell and dropped the supplies as she ran to stop the blonde from getting up. Adora almost fell as she made to walk around the glass table in front of the couch. Glimmer caught her and guided the blonde back to the couch. 

“Adora, please sit down.” The pink haired woman said, trying not to let the panic seep through again. Two blue eyes met Glimmer’s. “You’ll be up again soon. Just sit for now, okay?” The blonde stared for a moment and the other woman wondered for a split second if the blonde was about to faint. But then the moment passed and Adora nodded, sinking obediently into the couch cushion, wearing what could only be described as a childish pout. The pink haired woman wrote it off as a side effect of the concussion. 

“Can I touch your arms?” Glimmer asked. “There’s some cuts on there I want to clean.” The blonde nodded silently. The two blue eyes watched quietly as the other worked. While the babbling version of Adora had worried Glimmer a little because of the concussion, this silence made her incredibly self-conscious. The pink haired woman’s attention diverted again to the jacket that had been strangely wrapped around the package but not the woman it should have been covering. It occurred to her that she should find out if there was an emergency contact for Adora. Someone had to be taking care of her or at least, Glimmer thought so. In the short period that she’d known the blonde, it had become apparent that Adora didn’t take the best care of herself. 

“Adora, is there someone I should call for you? Any family?” The pink haired woman turned over Adora’s arm to check for additional scrapes, and finding none, she moved to the other arm. When the silence continued, she looked up. The blonde’s face was stoic. 

“Just me.” The blonde mumbled. “An’ Bow.” The pink haired woman sat up, pulling back a bit as she processed the strange answer. 

“Is Bow your brother?” Glimmer asked. “I can call him.” 

Adora shook her head. “Friend. I don’t have family.” The pink haired girl’s face paled and her heart ached as though it had been struck. There was a lucidness in the blonde’s tone now that would have been comforting if it weren’t for the fact that everything she’d just disclosed was heartbreaking. Glimmer distracted herself by checking the blonde’s face. The only sign of injury were some bruises, so she put away the First Aid kit. She would get ice next. 

“Can you put these on? I don’t want you to stay in wet clothes.” Glimmer set down the clothes down in front of the other woman. She stood and walked out while the blonde changed. Since Adora appeared lucid and wasn’t moving much, it seemed safe for her to change from the couch. 

“Glimmer?” The hesitant and fearful voice from the living room brought the pink haired woman hurrying back in, thinking the blonde was hurt. But what Glimmer found was Adora had gotten her arm stuck partway in her sleeve and halfway out of the fresh shirt. _Well, I guess she wasn’t as lucid as I thought,_ Glimmer thought with some amusement. She helped to tug the shirt completely on and when she saw that the blonde was reclined on the couch, she got up to find some ice. When she returned, she pressed the pack to the blonde’s head in short intervals. 

“Did you eat already?” The girl asked. “I can reheat some leftovers. I know it’s not fancy, but I made some lasagna earlier.” Adora sniffed and Glimmer froze. 

“You’re soo nice.” Adora started tearing up. “You can have the package. Iz for you.” The blonde mumbled. Glimmer sighed and shook her head. 

“I don’t think your company would appreciate that.” The pink haired woman sat back, taking the ice pack, and setting it on the table. “And I think whoever it is can live without it for a night.” 

“No, I gotta deliver it.” Adora said and tried to stand up, but Glimmer pushed her back down. This was proving to be more challenging than the pink haired woman had anticipated. She hadn’t met anyone as stubbornly dedicated to their job as Adora was. Glimmer liked her job as a teacher well enough, but she couldn’t throw everything away for it. Though she did stay after hours to tutor kids who needed it. One kid, Frosta, was always staying after hours because her parents worked full time. Glimmer felt bad that the kid never got to go home when everyone else did. It seemed like Adora never went home at all. 

Her eyes hardened in resolve. This was serious. “Okay, Adora, you are taking the night off. We are making hot cocoa and you are going to relax.” 

“Yes, Your Pinkness…er… Majesty, Ma’am?” Adora ran through several random titles quickly enough that Glimmer wasn’t sure even that blonde knew why she was using them. But there was a light smile on the blonde’s face that the pink haired woman was determined to keep there. They barely knew each other, but Glimmer wanted to make sure Adora felt safe here. 

Glimmer did end up reheating some food for Adora in addition to the cocoa and the blonde did eat some, much to Glimmer’s relief. They both settled on either side of the couch to watch a few movies. Every so often the pink haired woman would get up to check Adora’s eyes. The pupils had gone slowly back to normal and soon Adora was sleeping soundly. Glimmer sighed and was about to turn off the TV when she heard a ringtone coming from the pocket of the blonde’s jacket. Glimmer fished out the phone to see the caller ID said “Bow”. The pink haired woman was glad that he called since she wasn’t sure if Adora’s phone had been password locked and she felt weird not telling _someone_ that the blonde had been hurt. 

Glimmer answered it. “Adora? Are you there? Did you get home? You told me you would call? Why didn’t you call? Are you okay?” The pink haired woman held the phone at arm’s length at the loud panicked barrage of questions shouted at her through the phone’s earpiece. 

“Hi, Bow? My name is Glimmer. You don’t know me, obviously. But Adora kinda crashed her bike… or whatever that thing is… anyways, she crashed it in front of my house and she’s sleeping it off right now. I promise she’s okay.” 

There was a pause then a low sigh filtered through the phone before he blurted, “She _what_?!!” Glimmer stared at the phone, her eyes rolling. This Bow seemed like a good guy, if not way overprotective. It was no wonder that Adora considered him to be like family. 

“She’s fine, I swear. I can text you my address so you can come pick her up.” Glimmer repeated. Once more there was a pause and then Bow’s sigh of relief was audible. 

“Are you sure she’s okay?” Bow asked. “I know she can act like she’s fine when she’s not.” 

Glimmer let a wry smile cross her face as she looked over at the sleeping blonde on the couch. “Yeah, she ate some food and passed out. She kept insisting she deliver the package she had but I told her she wasn’t going anywhere.” 

There was what sounded like an impressed whistle from Bow’s end. “And she listened to you? Wow, she barely even listens to me.” 

“Well,” Glimmer said slowly. “She was a little out of it from the concussion.” Once more Bow’s scream caused the pink haired woman to hold the receiver away from her face. 

“She has a concussion?!” Bow yelled. Glimmer wondered how Adora dealt with Bow’s constant worries. But at least someone was worrying about her. Glimmer noticed the blonde was shivering in her sleep, curling into a ball. Glimmer crossed the room and pulled the blanket she’d brought for their movie watching over Adora’s form. 

“She’s fine, Bow.” Glimmer said quietly, not wanting to disturb the other woman. The calm tone in Glimmer’s voice seemed to quell Bow’s fears long enough for him to ask for her address. 

“I can come pick her up now. I don’t want to impose on you any longer than she already has.” Bow said. Glimmer glanced over at the sleeping woman, her eyes drifting to the package in the front hall, her brow creasing with concern. 

“It’s no trouble, really.” She said. “I…can I ask you something, Bow?” 

“Sure?” He responded, somewhat confused. Glimmer knew that this was strange. The whole situation was odd in more ways than one. But it was hard to believe that someone like Adora, who seemed sweet for all intents and purposes, and was dedicated, was as alone as she was. 

“Adora kind of mentioned that her parents weren’t around, and you were the only person who she would call an emergency contact. I guess I just don’t understand how she could be this…” _Wonderful, amazing… beautiful…_ “Fixated on work. She wrapped her jacket around the package she was delivering but not her own body?” 

Bow chuckled, but it was a sad sound. “That’s Adora for you. She’s always been that way. Super diligent but can’t relax or take care of herself.” Everything about the statement was downright wrong. Glimmer had been a good student all her life, but at one point she got tired of never being more of a go getter. So many students needed her help. She wasn’t about to wait for someone to invite her to do it. 

Adora had never had someone stand up with her except Bow. He hardly seemed like the confrontational type either. “That’s not right.” Glimmer immediately despised Horde Prime Delivery Service in that moment. 

“Adora’s never talked back to her boss, so I guess that’s part of her problem.” Bow added. Glimmer’s eyes went wide and then she grinned with a grim desire. 

“Oh, is that right?” Glimmer repeated. On his end, Bow’s brow creased and then he realized with a jolt what this stranger must be thinking. 

“Wait, Glimmer, what are you thinking? Adora can handle herself-” 

“Sorry, Bow, can’t hear you too well. I’ll have her ready for you tomorrow. I’ll take care of everything.” The line then clicked, and Bow held the receiver out away from his face, too surprised to even say anything. _I have a bad feeling about this._

Glimmer checked the address of the package and found it was one of her neighbors. The next morning, she walked the package down the street and then as soon as she was back inside, she looked up Horde Prime Delivery Company’s phone number. 

“Horde Prime Delivery Company, this is Mermista, how can we ship you today?” The bored tone on the other end told Glimmer this wasn’t who she wanted to speak to. 

“Hi, Mermista, I’m looking to speak to someone about one of your employees.” There was shuffling on the other end. 

“Oh, do you need to file a complaint, because I can transfer you to HR.” The words were helpful but Mermista still sounded bored out of her mind. 

“It’s not a complaint. She’s…great.” Glimmer muddled through some confusing emotions in her head and then shook them away. “I more wanted to ask why you sent someone out in the middle of the night on a sorry excuse for a motorcycle?” 

“Uh, yeah, _definitely_ not my department.” Mermista said, sounding confused and out of her element. “I’m going to transfer you to my boss.” The line went quiet and then a gruff sounding deep voice answered. It sounded like someone who was trying too hard to be an animated TV show villain on the other line. All posture and no threat. 

“Horde Prime Delivery Company, Hordak speaking. Why are you calling me?” Glimmer blinked. The first half of that sounded normal, the second part, not so much. 

“Yeah, I’m calling to ask you why you’re being such an ass to your employees.” Glimmer said. She didn’t wait for an answer. “You sent Adora out in the middle of the night on a fucking metal disaster on wheels and she crashed.” 

“I am sorry. She will be punished-” 

“I’m _not_ done!” Glimmer roared. The other side went quiet. “You seem to place a lot more care in your stupid boxes than actual people and maybe Adora isn’t the type to tell you to get bent. But I am. Adora’s not coming back to you or your lousy company. So good luck finding a replacement.” 

“What are you-” 

“Lastly! She’s too precious of a package and you don’t know how to handle her with the care she deserves.” Glimmer grunted. “Have a nice day.” She slammed her finger into the “end call” button and looked up just in time to see Adora’s blue eyes fixed on hers. 

“Oh.” _Shit._ They stared in silence for a minute before the blonde spoke. 

“Uh, what was that all about?” She tried to rub her head and winced. “And why does my head hurt so much?” 

“You crashed into my trash bins last night. And got a concussion.” Glimmer said, biting her lip nervously. “What do you remember?” 

“Not much, I remember falling asleep here. But not much about what we talked about. I hope I wasn’t too much trouble.” Adora rubbed the back of her neck. It was hard to believe she barely remembered the pink haired woman whose smile was doing funny things to Adora’s mind. “Wait, who were you yelling at just now?” 

“Your…boss? You wouldn’t stop talking about that stupid package last night and I got mad that it seemed like it was all that your boss or even you seemed to care about.” Glimmer wheezed a little after blurting the tirade of words without pausing to take a breath. 

The blonde blinked wordlessly. Everything felt like it was some weird dream or maybe something caused by the concussion. “I need to call him back.” She stopped as something struck her. “Hang on… did you call me a precious package?” Glimmer’s entire face went red. 

“I didn’t imagine that. You _did_ say that to my boss.” Adora looked surprised and then a grin cracked across her face. “Wow. No one has ever said anything like that to him. Or about me.” 

Glimmer rubbed her arm and averted her gaze. “Maybe they should.” Adora’s eyes switched from surprise and softened as a blush swept across her face. “Adora, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I just got so mad about how hurt you were and well… I’m not known for being good at controlling my temper.” A warm hand took the pink haired woman’s and she looked up into the two deep blue eyes she’d been so fascinated by the night before. “Bow is going to have my head.” 

Adora’s brow quirked at that. “You spoke to Bow?” 

“Yeah, he was the one who said you usually care more about your job than you do yourself. I hated hearing that. We don’t even know each other, and I felt like this stupid company hurt someone I care about. I can’t explain it.” Glimmer said. The blonde considered this and smiled. She was confused, sure, but if anything, she was intrigued by this pink haired woman who was willing to scream at Adora’s evil boss after just one encounter. 

“I’ve never met anyone like you.” The blonde said simply, curiosity and flustered intrigue filling her features. Her phone then buzzed. Bow’s ID appeared. 

“Hey, Bow,” Adora said. “Yeah, I’m about to head out.” She started moving towards the door, still relaying information to the man on the other line as she moved out towards the curb. The trash bins were still dented, and the remains of the bike were strewn across the ground. She hung up and turned to find Glimmer was standing with Adora’s red work jacket in her arms. 

“Here, I washed it for you. You know… just in case you do want to go back.” Glimmer said with a wane smile. Adora couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration for this woman. This stranger had done more for the blonde than the company ever had in the seven years Adora had been with Horde Prime Delivery Company. A honk alerted her to Bow’s car as it pulled up. 

“You know what,” Adora said as she took the jacket. “I think I’ll return it to sender.” She opened the busted lid of the trash bin and slammed the jacket in. Then she pulled out a receipt pad from her pocket and ripped one piece off before throwing the rest away. She scrawled her number on it and handed it to the perplexed pink haired woman. 

“I’ll need a signature for delivery.” The blonde said. Glimmer blinked and then grinned and tore off the carbon copy, signed it and then added her phone number. 

“Confirmed.” Glimmer smiled as the blonde pulled away. As she walked back to her front door, she could hear Bow talking to Adora as they drove away. 

“What was that all about?” 

“Oh, you know. Just another day on the job.” Adora said, shutting the door. For once, the blonde was looking forward to tomorrow. Package or no package.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!


End file.
